


be with you to live, to breathe

by CreatePeaceFromChaos



Series: Timbitat's Quarantine Bingo [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deepthroating, Ghosts, Handwavy worldbuilding, Haunted Houses, Haunting, I mean it doesn't last long and is more foreplay than anything but yeah, M/M, Oral Sex, Spirits, This was supposed to be PWP, Threesome - M/M/M, but my porn developed plot in the setup and now this is the result, so there's not much porn and this version actually has less than my first draft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:54:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25427995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CreatePeaceFromChaos/pseuds/CreatePeaceFromChaos
Summary: Ling had only inherited the big, draughty old place because no one else in his enormous family wanted it. He wasn’t really complaining – he’d also been granted enough money from his elderly father’s estate to fix the place up – because hey, free house, but the place was just creepy. Especially at night, and especially when he was alone.Good thing his favourite sister’s boyfriend’s brother was looking for a place to rent. That way Ling wouldn’t need to deal with this place on his own.(This was supposed to be porn. It grew plot and this is the result)
Relationships: Edward Elric/Greed/Ling Yao
Series: Timbitat's Quarantine Bingo [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830388
Comments: 1
Kudos: 33





	be with you to live, to breathe

**Author's Note:**

> fic title from Evanescence's "Taking Over Me"
> 
> this is technically modern AU but not exactly. I just... you'll see. This was supposed to be porn but it grew a plot and worldbuilding happened and it got away from me a little.
> 
> For the square "haunted house" on my Quarantine Bingo

The old house had been empty for years, and that was the way Greed liked it. It was _his_ , damn it, regardless of whose name was on the legal documentation. Greed had lived here, loved here, been betrayed here, died here, and returned here. The place was _his_.

He made a point of chasing off all those who would consider staying – rattling pipes, creepy laughter, glowing eyes in dark corners too small to fit anything big enough for the eyes… the works. And, when that hadn’t been enough, he’d possessed those closest to his human self and used that as a scare tactic.

Until now, it’d worked.

The newcomer was annoyingly fearless. He looked kind of like that last man to live in the old house longer than a couple of days, though a hell of a lot younger and prettier. And he was _very_ compatible with Greed for possession. It had actually taken effort, that first night, not to just slip into the man’s body and mind and soul and set up camp there.

And the rest of his usual tricks just… weren’t working.

He rattled the pipes, and the new guy – Ling, one of the guy’s visitors called him – just got a plumber in to fix the plumbing and Greed _couldn’t_ rattle them anymore.

He made cackling laughter echo through the house in the dead of night, and Ling just snored through it.

He made his eyes glow from the shadows in the stairwell as Ling went to bed, and the guy just stared for a moment before muttering about hallucinations and continuing on his way.

Nothing else worked, either.

Wafting cold air through the should-be-warm house? Nope. Ling got all the windows refitted and checked the walls for gaps.

Drawing “leave” and other similar messages in the fog on the mirror when Ling showered? Nope. Ling was fucking blind as a bat without his contacts and didn’t even see it before he wiped the condensation away.

Greed wanted to tear his hair out. If he’d had any anymore, that is. He wanted to tear _Ling’s_ hair out, and the man had a lot more of it than Greed ever had.

He was _this close_ to possessing the man – but the fact that it would be so easy actually scared him. What if he couldn’t separate afterwards? What if he tried and got sucked in and ended up trapped?

He didn’t want to risk it, but it was so _frustrating_ that none of his other tricks were working.

Greed moped and plotted and pouted and schemed throughout the months Ling spent fixing up the old house – surprisingly, without removing any of the major features which had been there since Greed had been alive. He still tried, occasionally, to scare Ling off, but it seemed that the more he tried the less effective it got. Occasionally a ghostly scream – hah – had been able to get a jump from the man, but now he just rolled his eyes or completely ignored it.

And Greed would never admit it to anyone that asked (not that anyone would) but he was actually coming to kind of reluctantly like the guy.

Then Ling went and moved a _second_ person into the house.

Fucker.

Ling had been doing his best to ignore the lanky shadow that inhabited the house he’d inherited from his late father. Every time something weird had happened, he’d brushed it off as logically as he could, and had pretended not to see the lanky black figure that seemed to drift behind him from room to room.

He wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t seeing things, so he never mentioned it to anyone. But he _was_ glad when Mei had asked him if he’d been willing to have a housemate. Her boyfriend, Alphonse, had an older brother who was moving back into the region and needed to find somewhere to live while he finished his dissertation. Ling had agreed, as the house was big enough to avoid Al’s brother – Edward, apparently, preferred name Ed – if the two of them didn’t get along. And having another person in the house would make the lanky shadow a bit less creepy. Maybe. Possibly.

Okay, he wasn’t holding out hope for that. But maybe having someone else around would make it clear whether he was seeing things or if he was _actually_ being haunted.

Much to his surprise – and pleasure – he and Ed _did_ get along. They met up outside of the house first, mostly because Ling didn’t want his lanky shadow (if it wasn’t a hallucination) to scare Ed off before he even really moved in. He had a feeling Ed knew he was hiding something, but the golden-haired, golden-eyed man didn’t ask and didn’t seem all that fussed about it. Ling hoped he’d remain that blasé about things if the shadow was real.

Two of them. There were _two of them_ now! Ling had been fine. Annoyingly persistent and seemingly oblivious to Greed’s presence, but otherwise fine. Greed could handle one person living in _his_ house.

But two? _Two_? No. He was not letting this new person – gold of eye and hair, and something about that was ringing alarm bells in Greed’s mind – remain here! He would let Ling stay, since the man seemed invested in keeping the house in good condition, but this new guy, Ed, _had_ to go.

Greed kept to himself for a few days, just observing, keeping track of what the new guy was doing and where he was going, but then he started to test the guy’s mettle.

He started with the glowing eyes lingering in shadows behind Ling, but Ed didn’t even blink, eyes passing over the trick as if he didn’t see it. Greed frowned, scowling, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at Ed from where he’d set himself up near the window. Ed’s eyes slid towards him – _him_ , not his illusion trick – and Greed jolted in surprise. Did he – no, he was just looking out the window.

Still, it unnerved him enough that he didn’t try the glowing-eye trick again.

That still left him with some other options, though. He could do the mirror thing, or maybe the eerie wailing in the evenings… something other than the eye trick.

“Ling,” Ed said, while Greed was lurking about and debating which tactic to try first. “This might be a weird question, but – are you aware you’re anchoring a Haunting?”

Greed’s plotting stuttered to a halt as Ling spluttered on the mouthful of tea he’d just sipped.

“I’m what-ing a _what_?”

“…that would be a no, then,” Ed muttered, and turned to face Greed directly. “You, then. You aware you’re anchored to him?”

“You can _see me?_ ” Greed demanded, and Ed sighed in a way that made him sound like he thought he was dealing with a bunch of idiots. Ling whipped around to stare at him, and Greed felt like the ground had dropped out from beneath him. “ _You_ can see me too?!”

“That would also be a no, then,” Ed grumbled. “Wonderful.” He straightened and glared between both Greed and Ling with his gold eyes. “Sit down and listen up. I’m only going to explain this once so you’d _better listen_.”

Greed sat down and shut up. And then he listened.

***

What Ed explained both made sense and… didn’t. If Ling was an anchor to allow Greed to interact with the world, why was Greed able to possess him like he had others in the past? Ed had answers for all the questions that hadn’t been answered in his initial explanation, but Greed was still kind of wary and confused.

Ling didn’t seem as tense as he had been the entire time he’d been in Greed’s house, though, which was weird. Why wasn’t he running screaming at being the anchor for some kind of spirit?

Ed snorted when Greed voiced that, and Ling huffed and folded his arms.

“I thought I was going crazy, alright? Knowing that you’re real and not just some random hallucination is a bit of weight off my mind, okay?” he snapped. Greed was a bit taken aback by that. He hadn’t considered that Ling had been able to see him the entire time and didn’t know if he was real or not.

And this whole bond thing that Ed was talking about would explain why Greed was starting to like Ling. Not that he’d voice that.

“And how do you fit in all this shit, then?” Greed demanded of Ed, and the gold-haired man rolled his gold eyes.

“I’m Xerxesan. Well, my ancestors were and I got a few of the throwback genetics. We’re few and far between nowadays but we’ve always been the link between spirits and humans. Anchors are… kind of like Xerxesans but for Hauntings only. A lot of the lore’s been lost so this is mostly conjecture,” he added, looking between Ling and Greed. “It’s the entire topic of my PhD so that’s why I know as much as I do.”

Xerxesan… that was familiar to Greed but he couldn’t place why. He shoved it aside for later.

“Hauntings were human and come about as the result of a death by deliberate and cultivated betrayal at the hands of a Xerxesan they loved. It’s… there aren’t many. There haven’t been any new ones in centuries. Xerxesans are rare enough, and Hauntings are rarer because those of us who live to adulthood are generally too busy to even think about what we can do beyond communicating with the various kinds of restless dead.” Ed grimaced. “Also you need to be kind of a psychopath to make someone love you and betray them in a way that leads to their death.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Ling grumbled, but Greed was a little more shaken.

Gold hair and eyes. Betrayal. _That_ was why Ed’s features were familiar. The woman he’d loved when he was alive… he couldn’t remember her name now, could barely remember what she’d looked like, but she must’ve been Xerxesan for him to end up this way if what Ed was saying was true.

“Hey, Haunting guy, you alright?” Ling’s voice cut through, and Greed gave a full-body shudder before nodding.

“Fine,” he said gruffly. “Name’s Greed, not Haunting guy,” he added with a scowl at Ling. Ling shrugged and grinned, eyes creasing with the force of his smile like they’d only done a couple of times since he moved in.

“Got your attention, didn’t it?” he asked, and Greed snorted and looked away. Ed was watching them, and if Greed was still human, he would’ve blushed. There was something _knowing_ about his look, and Greed didn’t like it.

“An anchor is someone who’s got enough Xerxesan in their ancestry to link to spirits, but not enough to be considered Xerxesan themselves. Most Hauntings have Anchors or Anchor-potentials, and they can only possess those people.” He shrugged, flopping back on the couch. “I can strengthen the bond between the two of you without Greed having to possess you, Ling, if that’s something you both want. It means Greed can interact with our world more, and Greed you’ll be able to take on a more human form if you want to.”

He did want that. He’d glimpsed what he looked like now, and he didn’t like it when he wasn’t using it to scare people. He missed his good looks from before his death.

But it was up to Ling more than him.

Greed glanced at Ling, who was already looking at him, thoughtful.

“Sure,” Ling said after a moment, turning back to Ed. “How do we do that?” Ed grinned.

“It’s pretty easy, actually. Though you need to be touching for it to work,” he added, looking between them, and Greed sighed like he was being greatly put-upon. He held out a clawed hand, and Ling gripped it firmly.

Ed stood, and Greed stiffened as an… an _aura_ of a familiar power rose around him. It crackled about him, blue to contrast with his golden features, and he clapped his hands together before placing them on Greed and Ling’s linked arms.

Energy surged, and everything went blue.

***

A year had passed since he’d come to live in the same house as a Haunting and its Anchor – since he’d come to live with Greed and Ling. He’d finished completed his dissertation and had gained his PhD, and was now being paid by the Xerxes Historical Preservation Trust to research into Xerxes and its people.

Which he’d been going to do anyway, but it was nice to be paid for it.

And he enjoyed living with Greed and Ling. Greed rarely took his Haunting form, but his smiles in his human form were just as toothy and unsettling – and attractive, _fuck_ – in either form.

And he _might_ have left out a few _tiny_ details about an Anchor-Haunting bond when he’d explained it to Ling and Greed, but Greed had already been incredibly unsettled and Ling had barely been holding onto his composure, so Ed hadn’t thought it was the right time to mention that their lifespans would be linked. Ling would live a long, long time, and Greed would be able to _live_ , to interact with the world like he was truly _alive_ , as long as he was bonded to Ling.

And, damn it, Ed was _stupidly in love_ with both of them. They were snarky shitheads but Ed was an asshole and he knew it, so they were a pretty good match. But Ed would never impose on a bond like theirs.

Plus there was the whole “a Xerxesan deliberately made you fall in love with them so they could betray you and get you killed” thing with Greed. And Ling’s sister was Mei, who Ed was really fond of because his brother loved her, and thankfully Al had missed the Xerxesan traits from their deadbeat dad but—

Well. Point remained – he couldn’t act on his attraction to either Ling or Greed for various reasons, no matter how much he wanted to be in bed with either (or preferably both) of them.

Fucking _emotions_ , fucking _morals_ , fucking—

“Ed, you gonna sit there and mutter to yourself all night, or are you gonna join us?” Ling demanded from the doorway, and Ed’s head jerked up so he could look at the other man.

“I’m coming,” he said, standing, shaking the frustrated thoughts from his head. “Greed setting up?”

“As always,” Ling said with a roll of his eyes. There was fondness there, though, and Ed wondered how long it’d be before the two of them fell into bed together for more than sleep. Probably not that much longer, considering how he’d seen Greed staring at Ling (and vice versa) on a regular basis.

But this was the other thing bothering Ed: movie nights.

Every week, Ling and Greed would drag him to lounge on the ridiculously big couch and they’d watch movies and poke fun at them for whatever reason. And, like clockwork, Ed would wake in the morning sandwiched between the two of them.

It was driving him crazy – but he didn’t want it to stop.

Fucking hell.

Ling gently bullied and teased Ed over to the couch, and as he settled in Ling exchanged exasperated looks with Greed over Ed’s golden-haired head. They’d been trying to get him to realise they were flirting with him for _months_ , ever since they’d gotten together themselves, but so far there was no luck. Ling had even complained to Mei about it, and she had – giggling the entire time – told him that he had to be very blunt if he wanted an Elric to understand they were being flirted with.

Ling had sworn at her and hung up, but Al had messaged him later and told him pretty much exactly the same thing: be blunt with Ed if you want him to know you’re interested.

So he and Greed had been _trying_ , futilely, to tell Ed they wanted him in their bed as well as in their house and life.

But Ed was so fucking _stubborn_ and seemed to have selective hearing, because he seemed to have entirely missed the multiple times Ling (or Greed) outright asked Ed if he wanted to come to bed. And he’d missed or misinterpreted the question _every fucking time_.

The closest they were able to get to him was during movie nights, where they’d curl up around him once he fell asleep and hold him until morning. And yet still he didn’t seem to get it.

Ling was _beyond_ frustrated now, and Greed was steadily losing patience. So, they’d decided, tonight would be the night they outright told Ed they wanted a romantic and sexual relationship with him.

Now they just had to hope he wouldn’t misinterpret _that_ too.

They let the first movie go by as it usually did – heckling the actors, picking holes in the science, and so on – but when Ling got up to change the movie, Greed _pounced_.

Literally.

Ed yelped as he was tackled to the couch, and Greed grinned down at him as he pinned the startled man. Ed looked gorgeous, flushed with surprise and growing indignation, golden hair strewn out about his head, and Greed wasn’t surprised when he started to grow hard in his trousers. Ed was beautiful, even if he didn’t seem to realise it.

“What the hell?” Ed demanded, starting to push himself up to sitting, and Greed grabbed his wrists to shove him back down. Ed’s breath hitched and his pupils dilated slightly, and Greed’s grin widened.

“You’re either oblivious or wilfully blind,” Ling said, sitting back down on the couch by Ed’s head – being careful of his hair – and leaning over to press a kiss to Greed’s cheek. Greed leant into the touch a little, welcoming it, before they both looked down at Ed again. “We’ve been flirting with you for months, and have literally asked you to join us in bed at least ten times. So now we’re just going to outright say it.”

“We want you,” Greed interrupted bluntly, an immovable object pinning Ed to the couch. “In any way you’ll let us.”

“If you’re interested,” Ling interpreted, “we want to be in a romantic and sexual relationship with us.”

Ed gaped up at both of them, and then something changed in his eyes and he relaxed beneath them.

“Thank fuck it’s not just me pining and being overly hopeful,” he said, and then tugged at his arms. “Can you let me up now?” Greed tightened his grip briefly – making Ed’s breath hitch again, and wasn’t _that_ something fun to explore later? – and then let go, sitting back on his heels as Ed shuffled back and sat up carefully. “So, uh, now wh—” he broke off, eyes going wide, as Ling slid a hand into that gold hair and kissed him.

Greed just watched, at first, as his Anchor and the Xerxesan they both loved kissed, testing each other, learning each other. Then, when Ling broke it so they could both breathe, Greed swept in and took over, kissing Ed deeply. He tasted so good, and moaned so prettily into Greed’s mouth when Greed put a hand around the back of his neck to tug him closer. Greed didn’t need to breathe like humans did, but he had a pretty good idea nowadays of how long a human could go without needing a proper breath, and so didn’t prolong the kiss too much.

Ling was watching with dark, hungry eyes, and stole a quick, filthy kiss from Greed as Ed panted between them.

“Bed, or here?” Greed growled when they parted, and Ling looked between Ed and him and opened his mouth but then closed it again, apparently indecisive.

“I say here,” Ed declared, and then moved faster than Greed had expected to drag Ling over and down onto the couch in a mirror of the position Greed had put Ed in before. Ed smirked, apparently quite pleased with himself, and kissed Ling deep and rough before looking back up at Greed. “Hold his arms?” Greed raised a brow but did as asked, pinning his Anchor firmly to the couch. Ling whined a protest, but then gulped when Ed tugged his pants down without further hesitation. Greed just watched, fascinated and aroused, as Ed ran his tongue up Ling’s half-hard cock and then sucked the tip into his mouth, never taking his eyes off Greed’s even as Ling wailed and thrashed.

“You’re going to kill us both if you keep going that slow,” Greed managed to get out, his voice strangely hoarse, as Ed slowly took more and more of Ling’s now fully-hard cock into his mouth. Ed winked and then Greed had to actually _try_ to hold Ling down as Ed took the rest – fucking _deepthroated_ Ling like it was _nothing_ – in one swift motion. Ling’s hips jerked, but Ed’s hands were holding him down without any apparent effort beyond the slight flex and bulge of his biceps and forearms.

 _Fuck_ , and here Greed had thought they’d be able to hold Ed down and do pretty much exactly what he was currently doing to Ling. Greed had never been so glad to be wrong in his life _or_ afterlife.

Ed drew back, Ling’s cock emerging, glistening, from his mouth, and then he sank back down just as easily as he had the first time, nose nudging against the sensitive skin above Ling’s cock, and Greed saw both of Ed’s hands flex on Ling’s hips as he hummed. Ling cried out wordlessly and jolted, and Greed laughed as Ed removed his mouth from Ling’s cock with a satisfied smirk. Ling hadn’t come yet, but he was very, very close from the way he cursed when Ed stopped.

“Fuck!” Ling gasped, already sounding and looking completely wrung out, and Ed laughed too as he moved his hand away and leaned up to kiss Greed.

“There’s probably more room in a bed, no matter how big this couch is,” he said, and Greed had to agree.

“You’ve got a point. Yours is closest.”

“Fair,” Ed admitted, and stood as Greed released Ling’s arms. Ling laid there, completely still, for a long moment.

“I don’t know if I can walk just yet,” he admitted, and Greed scooped his Anchor up in his arms. “This works.” Ed smirked again, apparently quite pleased with himself, and then turned to stride out of the room.

Well, it would’ve been a stride if he wasn’t clearly as aroused as both Ling and Greed were. Greed grinned and followed close on Ed’s heels.

**Author's Note:**

> As I said... my porn grew a plot and then didn't want to be porn anymore.


End file.
